Power line communication rate limiting system and method

ABSTRACT

A power line communications device that may provide rate limiting and quality of service control is provided. The device may include a first modem in communication with one or more user devices via a low voltage power line subnet and a second modem communicatively coupled to a second communications medium. The device also may include a controller in communication with the first and second modems and a computer readable medium encoded with instructions to control the operation of the controller. The controller may rate limit data to and/or from a destination and/or source based one or more parameters such as the destination address, the source address, the type of data, temporal parameters, and other criteria. In addition, the controller may implement QoS for data and transmit QoS parameters to power line modems to allow the power line modems to perform QoS.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention generally relates to data communications over apower distribution system and more particularly, to a device and methodfor rate limiting power line communications.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Well-established power distribution systems exist throughout most of theUnited States, and other countries, which provide power to customers viapower lines. With some modification, the infrastructure of the existingpower distribution systems can be used to provide data communication inaddition to power delivery, thereby forming a power line communicationsystem (PLCS). In other words, existing power lines that already havebeen run to many homes and offices, can be used to carry data signals toand from the homes and offices. These data signals are communicated onand off the power lines at various points in the power linecommunication system, such as, for example, near homes, offices,Internet service providers, and the like.

While the concept may sound simple, there are many challenges toovercome in order to use power lines for data communication. Overheadpower lines are not designed to provide high speed data communicationsand are very susceptible to interference. Additionally, federalregulations limit the amount of radiated energy of a power linecommunication system, which therefore limits the strength of the datasignal that can be injected onto power lines (especially overhead powerlines). Consequently, due to the attenuation of the power lines,communications signals typically will travel only a relatively shortdistance on power lines. In addition, the distance may vary fromlocation to location.

Power distribution systems include numerous sections, which transmitpower at different voltages. The transition from one section to anothertypically is accomplished with a transformer. The sections of the powerdistribution system that are connected to the customers premisestypically are low voltage (LV) sections having a voltage between 100volts(V) and 1,000V, depending on the system. In the United States, theLV section typically is about 120V. The sections of the powerdistribution system that provide the power to the LV sections arereferred to as the medium voltage (MV) sections. The voltage of the MVsection is in the range of 1,000V to 1,000,000V. The transition from theMV section to the LV section of the power distribution system typicallyis accomplished with a distribution transformer, which converts thehigher voltage of the MV section to the lower voltage of the LV section.

Power system transformers are one obstacle to using power distributionlines for data communication. Transformers act as a low-pass filter,passing the low frequency signals (e.g., the 50 or 60 Hz) power signalsand impeding the high frequency signals (e.g., frequencies typicallyused for data communication). As such, power line communication systemsface the challenge of communicating the data signals around, or through,the distribution transformers. Thus, many power line communicationssystems include a transformer bypass device, which may act as thegateway between the MV and LV power lines.

In many PLCSs, the user devices at numerous customer communicate with abypass device over the same LV power line subnet. Thus, there is a needfor a device and method that permits numerous users to share the same LVpower line subnet and that provides sufficient bandwidth and low latencyfor the desired application (and associated data), which may be gaming,voice over IP (VoIP), video, audio, computer, or other data. These andother advantages may be provided by various embodiments of the presentinvention.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a power line communications device thatmay provide rate limiting quality of service (QoS) control. The devicemay include a first modem in communication with one or more user devicesvia a low voltage power line subnet and a second modem communicativelycoupled to a second communications medium. The device also may include acontroller in communication with the first and second modems and acomputer readable medium encoded with instructions to control theoperation of the controller. The controller may rate limit data toand/or from a destination and/or source based one or more parameterssuch as the destination address, the source address, the type of data,temporal parameters, and other criteria. In addition, the controller mayimplement QoS for data and transmit QoS parameters to power line modemsto allow the power line modems to perform QoS.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention is further described in the detailed description thatfollows, by reference to the noted drawings by way of non-limitingillustrative embodiments of the invention, in which like referencenumerals represent similar parts throughout the drawings. As should beunderstood, however, the invention is not limited to the precisearrangements and instrumentalities shown. In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a diagram of an exemplary power distribution system with whichthe present invention may be employed;

FIG. 2 is a diagram of a portion of an example power line communicationssystem, with which an embodiment of the present invention may be used;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a bypass device, in accordance with anembodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a bypass device, in accordance with anembodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF ILLUSTRATIVE EMBODIMENTS

In the following description, for purposes of explanation and notlimitation, specific details are set forth, such as particular networks,communication systems, computers, terminals, devices, components,techniques, data and network protocols, software products and systems,operating systems, development interfaces, hardware, etc. in order toprovide a thorough understanding of the present invention.

However, it will be apparent to one skilled in the art that the presentinvention may be practiced in other embodiments that depart from thesespecific details. Detailed descriptions of well-known networks,communication systems, computers, terminals, devices, components,techniques, data and network protocols, software products and systems,operating systems, development interfaces, and hardware are omitted soas not to obscure the description of the present invention.

System Architecture and General Design Concepts

As shown in FIG. 1, power distribution systems typically includecomponents for power generation, power transmission, and power delivery.A transmission substation typically is used to increase the voltage fromthe power generation source to high voltage (HV) levels for longdistance transmission on HV transmission lines to a substation. Typicalvoltages found on HV transmission lines range from 69 kilovolts (kV) toin excess of 800 kV.

In addition to HV transmission lines, power distribution systems includeMV power lines and LV power lines. As discussed, MV typically rangesfrom about 1000 V to about 100 kV and LV typically ranges from about 100V to about 1,000 V. Transformers are used to convert between therespective voltage portions, e.g., between the HV section and the MVsection and between the MV section and the LV section. Transformers havea primary side for connection to a first voltage (e.g., the MV section)and a secondary side for outputting another (usually lower) voltage(e.g., the LV section). Such transformers are often referred to asdistribution transformers or a step down transformers, because they“step down” the voltage to some lower voltage. Transformers, therefore,provide voltage conversion for the power distribution system. Thus,power is carried from substation transformer to a distributiontransformer over one or more MV power lines. Power is carried from thedistribution transformer to the customer premises via one or more LVpower lines.

In addition, a distribution transformer may function to distribute one,two, three, or more phase voltages to the customer premises, dependingupon the demands of the user. In the United States, for example, theselocal distribution transformers typically feed anywhere from one to tenhomes, depending upon the concentration of the customer premises in aparticular area. Distribution transformers may be pole-top transformerslocated on a utility pole, pad-mounted transformers located on theground, or transformers located under ground level.

The communication device of the present invention may form part of aPLCS to communicate signals to and from communication devices at thecustomer premises through the LV power line. In addition, thecommunications device of the present invention may facilitate thecommunication of data signals along the MV power line with 1) otherpower line communication devices such as bypass devices; 2) one or morebackhaul points; 3) one or more power line servers; and/or 4) devices ona network such as the Internet.

Power Line Communication System

One example of portion of such a PLCS is shown in FIG. 2 and includesone or more bypass devices 100, which may be formed by an embodiment ofthe present invention. In this example, the present invention isembodied as a bypass device (BD) 100 to communicate data signals aroundthe distribution transformer that would otherwise filter such datasignals, preventing them from passing through the transformer orsignificantly degrading them. Thus, the BD 100 is the gateway betweenthe LV power line subnet (i.e., the devices that are communicativelycoupled to the LV power lines) and the MV power line and communicatessignals to and from user devices at the customer premises (CP) via thelow voltage subnet 61.

In this embodiment, the BD 100 provides communication services for theuser, which may include security management, routing of InternetProtocol (IP) packets, filtering data, access control, service levelmonitoring, signal processing and modulation/demodulation of signalstransmitted over the power lines.

This example portion of a PLCS also includes a backhaul point 10, whichmay also be an alternate embodiment of the present invention. Thebackhaul point 10 is an interface and gateway between a portion of aPLCS (e.g., an MV run) and a traditional non-power linetelecommunications network. One or more backhaul points (BP) 10 arecommunicatively coupled to an aggregation point (AP) 20 that in manyembodiments may be at (e.g., co-located with), or connected to, thepoint of presence to the Internet. The BP 10 may be connected to the AP20 using any available mechanism, including fiber optic conductors,T-carrier, Synchronous Optical Network (SONET), or wireless techniqueswell known to those skilled in the art. Thus, the BP 10 may include atransceiver suited for communicating through the communication medium.

The AP 20 may include a conventional Internet Protocol (IP) data packetrouter and may be directly connected to an Internet backbone therebyproviding access to the Internet. Alternatively, the AP 20 may beconnected to a core router (not shown), which provides access to theInternet, or other communication network. Depending on the configurationof the PLCS, a plurality of APs 20 may be connected to a single corerouter which provides Internet access. The core router (or AP 20 as thecase may be) may route voice traffic to and from a voice serviceprovider and route Internet traffic to and from an Internet serviceprovider and/or video provider. The routing of packets to theappropriate provider may be determined by any suitable means such as byincluding information in the data packets to determine whether a packetis voice. If the packet is voice, the packet may be routed to the voiceservice provider and, if not, the packet may be routed to the Internetservice provider. Similarly, the packet may include information (whichmay be a portion of the address) to determine whether a packet isInternet data. If the packet is Internet data, the packet may be routedto the Internet service provider and, if not, the packet may be routedto the voice service provider. Additionally, if the packet includesvoice, video or other time sensitive data, it may be accorded a higherpriority to thereby reduce the latency thereof.

In some PLCS embodiments, there may a distribution point (not shown)between the BP 10 and the AP 20. The distribution point, which include arouter, may be coupled to a plurality of BPs 10 and provides routingfunctions between its BPs 10 and its AP 20. In one example embodiment, aplurality of BPs 10 are connected to each distribution point and eachdistribution point (of which there are a plurality) is coupled to the AP20, which provides access to the Internet.

The PLCS also may include a power line server (PLS) that is a computersystem with memory for storing a database of information about the PLCSand includes a network element manager (NEM) that monitors and controlsthe PLCS. The PLS allows network operations personnel to provision usersand network equipment, manage customer data, and monitor system status,performance and usage. The PLS may reside at a remote network operationscenter (NOC), and/or at a PLCS Point of Presence (POP), to oversee agroup of communication devices via the Internet. The PLS may provide anInternet identity to the network devices by assigning the devices (e.g.,user devices, BDs 100, (e.g., the LV modems and MV modems of BDs), BPs10, and AP 20) IP addresses and storing the IP addresses and otherdevice identifying information (e.g., the device's location, address,serial number, etc.) in its memory. In addition, the PLS may approve ordeny user devices authorization requests, command status reports,statistics and measurements from the BDs, and BPs, and provideapplication software upgrades to the communication devices (e.g., BDs,BPs, and other devices). The PLS, by collecting electric powerdistribution information and interfacing with utilities' back-endcomputer systems may provide enhanced power distribution services suchas automated meter reading, outage detection, restoration detection,load balancing, distribution automation, Volt/Volt-Amp Reactance(Volt/VAr) management, and other similar functions. The PLS also may beconnected to one or more APs and/or core routers directly or through theInternet and therefore can communicate with any of the BDs, userdevices, and BPs through the respective AP and/or core router.

The PLCS may further include indoor low voltage repeaters and outdoorlow voltage repeaters. Indoor low voltage repeaters may be plugged intoa wall socket inside the customer premises. Outdoor low voltagerepeaters may be coupled to the external low voltage power lineconductors extending from the transformer and therefore, be locatedbetween the customer premises and the BD 100. Both the indoor lowvoltage repeaters and outdoor low voltage repeaters repeat data on thelow voltage power line to extend the communication range of the BD 100and power line modem.

At the user end of the PLCS of this example system, data flow originatesfrom a user device, which provides the data to a power line modem (PLM)50, which is well-known in the art.

Various electrical circuits within the customer's premises distribute LVpower and data signals within the customer premises. The customer drawspower on demand by plugging a device into a power outlet. In a similarmanner, the customer may plug the PLM 50 into a power outlet todigitally connect user devices to communicate data signals carried bythe LV wiring. The PLM 50 thus serves as an interface for user devicesto access the PLCS. The PLM 50 can have a variety of interfaces forcustomer data appliances. For example, a PLM 50 can include a RJ-11Plain Old Telephone Service (POTS) connector, an RS-232 connector, a USBconnector, a Ethernet 10 Base-T connector, RJ-45 connector, and thelike. In this manner, a customer can connect a variety of user devicesto the PLCS. Further, multiple PLMs can be plugged into power outletsthroughout the customer premises, with each PLM 50 communicating overthe same wiring internal of the customer premises to the BD 100.

The user device connected to the PLM 50 may be any device capable ofsupplying data for transmission (or for receiving such data) including,but not limited to a computer, a telephone, a telephone answeringmachine, a fax, a digital cable box (e.g., for processing digital audioand video, which may then be supplied to a conventional television andfor transmitting requests for video programming), a video game, astereo, a videophone, a television (which may be a digital television),a video recording device (which may be a digital video recorder), a homenetwork device, a utility meter, or other device. The PLM 50 transmitsthe data received from the user device through the LV power lines to aBD 100 and provides data received from the LV power line to the userdevice. The PLM 50 may also be integrated with the user device, whichmay be a computer. In addition, the functions of the PLM may beintegrated into a smart utility meter such as a gas meter, electricmeter, water meter, or other utility meter to thereby provide automatedmeter reading (AMR).

The BD 100 typically transmits the data to (and receives the data from)the backhaul point 10, which, in turn, transmits the data to (andreceives the data from) the AP 20. The AP 20 then transmits the data to(and receives the data from) the appropriate destination (perhaps via acore router), which may be a network destination (such as an Internetaddress) in which case the packets are transmitted to, and pass through,numerous routers (herein routers are meant to include both networkrouters and switches) in order to arrive at the desired destination.

This example embodiment of the present invention includes a BD 100 thatalso can be configured to repeat communications. The repeatingfunctionality of the device allows the communications range of a BP 10to be expanded such that communications devices (e.g., BDs 100) withunsatisfactory connectivity (e.g., due to noise or attenuation ofsignals) can be improved by repeating to make their connectionssatisfactory. In addition, the repeater functionality typically willextend the ‘reach’ of the BP 10 to include communications devices atdistances that normally could not be reached by direct transmissionbetween the device and the BP 10. Because the repeating BD 100 reducesthe number of BPs 10 needed to be deployed to cover the geographicalarea of a PLCS, it also reduces the amount of backhaul media (e.g.,fiber optic cable or wireless links) that needs to be deployed, therebyproviding a significant economic improvement to the PLCS.

In this embodiment, a single device may repeat communications for otherdevices coupled to the MV power line and also provide communications toone or more user devices (such as those connected to the LV subnet orthat are linked to the device via a wireless link). Providing a BD 100that functions as a bypass device and repeater simultaneously, makes thedevice even more economically advantageous. For ease of discussion, a BD100 in which the repeater functionality has been, or is being enabled,generally will be referred to herein as a repeating BD 100 (“RBD 100”).

In this embodiment, the repeating BD 100 typically will receivedownstream packets addressed to it from a BP 10 and retransmit them onthe MV power line for reception by another BD 100. Likewise, the RBD 100may receive packets addressed to it that are transmitted from one ormore BDs 100 and retransmit those packets on the MV power line forreception by the BP 10. Thus, the RBD 100 includes sufficientinformation stored in its memory (e.g., bridge table or routing table)to receive packets addressed to it, and to re-address those packets withthe address of the corresponding destination device (e.g., BP 10 or BD100). In addition, the demodulation of received packets, and modulationand retransmission of packets improves the signal to noise ratio (SNR)of the data traversing the power line. Thus, the repeater functionalityof the BD 100 may extend the communications reach in such a way as toallow devices coupled to the MV power line that cannot communicate withBP 10, to be able to communicate with that BP and operate as a childdevice of that BP 10.

Furthermore, the repeater functionality may reside in any or all BDs100, with configuration and activation being remotely enabled anddisabled from the PLS automatically or in response to an input from anoperator. In addition, more than one BD 100 may be enabled as repeatingBDs 100 on a MV run so that data communicated between a BP 10 and a BD100 may be repeated two or more times. Furthermore, one RBD 100 on an MVrun may repeat for some BDs 100 and another RBD 100 may repeat for otherBDs 100 on that same run. The flexibility of the functionality may allowthe PLS operator (at the network operations center or NOC) to decidewhere and when to use a repeater without requiring pre-planning oradditional hardware deployment and to adapt to changing conditions.

To facilitate on-demand reconfiguration of BDs 100 and BPs 10, the PLSsoftware may include code segments for transmitting commands to 1)enable the repeater functionality of a BD 100, 2) disable repeaterfunctionality of a BD 100, 3) configure a BP 10 to communicate tospecific BDs 100 through a specific RBD 100, 4) configure a RBD 100 torepeat for specific BDs 100, and 5) configure specific BDs 100 to routetraffic through a specific RBD 100.

The PLS also may store the hierarchical configuration of the BP 10, RBDs100, BDs 100 for each MV run in the network in its memory (or database)to help facilitate and maintain the desired route configuration. Thishierarchy information may include address and other information showingthe following for each BP 10: 1) the BDs 100 directly communicating withthe BP 10, 2) the BDs 100 directly communicating with the BP 10 and alsoacting as RBDs 100, 3) the BDs 100 communicating through a RBD 100 andalso acting as RBDs 100, and 4) the BDs 100 that are communicatingthrough an RBD 100 (and are not acting as an RBD 100).

As discussed, each BD 100 may include the repeater functionality, whichmay be enabled or disabled as desired by the operator. In otherembodiments, the repeater functionality may be combined with thefunctionality of other communications devices. For example, in anotherembodiment the repeating communications device may include a mediumvoltage port (for communications over the MV power line) and a wirelesstransceiver for communications to the user devices at the customerpremises (e.g., instead of an LV port). Thus, such a bypass device maybypass the transformer without coupling to the LV power line at thetransformer. In another example, the repeater functionality may becombined with the backhaul functionality. Consequently, a BP may repeatbackhaul communications, such as those from other BPs 10 (or other MVruns) or its BDs 100, over the MV power line using a transmission schemeorthogonal to those between the repeating BP 10 and its child devices(BDs 100). Such a transmission scheme may include one or more of surfacewave transmissions, ultra wideband (UWB) transmissions, a different(orthogonal) frequency band, or communicating over the neutral conductor(instead of or in addition to the MV power line conductor). Thus, such aBP 10 (or BD 100, or RBD 100 if also transmitting such signals) maysimultaneously communicate (receive or transmit) a conductive signalover the MV power line (e.g., an OFDM signal to or from a BD 100 or RBD100) and a UWB signal or surface wave signal (e.g., for backhaulcommunications to or from a RBD 100 or BP 10). Such a BP 10, therefore,may not need to have a separate backhaul link connection. The non-powerline backhaul link may be connected to the upstream BP 10 or otherdevice receiving the repeated data. Thus, such RBDs 100 and BPs 10 mayinclude a first MV interface for communications via OFDM (e.g., forcommunications between devices of the same MV run) and a second MVinterface for UWB communications, surface wave communications, orcommunications in a second frequency band (e.g., for communicationsbeing repeated from (or to) other BPs 10 of other MV runs). The firstand second MV interface may share some components such as, for example,the MV coupler. Thus, the MV may be used to provide two or moresimultaneously available communications channels.

The embodiment described below includes a BD 100 that operates as BD 100for bypassing a pole-mounted transformer. The present invention may beequally applicable for use in bypassing other types of transformers(such as pad mount or underground). The BD 100 may provide a path fordata to bypass the transformer by being coupled to the same MV powerline conductor to which the transformer is coupled or to a different MVpower line conductor and, in either instance, may be coupled to the sameLV power lines to which the bypassed transformer is coupled. Inaddition, the BDs 100 may or may not be physically coupled to the samepower line conductor to which the BP 10 is physically connected. Forexample, in overhead PLCS, high frequency data signals may cross-couplebetween the power line conductors.

The BD 100 described herein, which is an example embodiment of thepresent invention, provides bi-directional communications and includesthe functional block diagrams shown in FIG. 3. In particular, thisembodiment of the BD 100 includes a MV power line interface (MVI) 200, acontroller 300, and a LV power line interface (LVI) 400. Both the MVIand LVI may include an adaptive and/or dynamic transmitter to transmitsignals at various power levels as determined by the controller 300,which may change the output power in response to a command from the PLSor automatically due to changes in line impedance. The BD 100 iscontrolled by a programmable processor and associated peripheralcircuitry, which form part of the controller 300. The controller 300includes memory that stores, among other things, routing information andprogram code, which controls the operation of the processor.

Referring to FIG. 4, the LVI 400 may include a LV power line coupler410, a LV signal conditioner 420, and a LV modem 450. The router 310forms part of the controller 300 and performs routing functions. Router310 may perform routing functions using layer 3 data (e.g., IPaddresses), layer 2 data (e.g., MAC addresses), or a combination oflayer 2 and layer 3 data (e.g., a combination of MAC and IP addresses).The MVI 200 may include a MV modem 280, a MV signal conditioner 260, anda power line coupler 210. In addition to routing, the controller 300 mayperform other functions including controlling the operation of the LVI400 and MVI 200 functional components and responding to PLS commands andrequests. A more complete description of the hardware, firmware, of theBD 100 and its functionality is described below.

This embodiment of the BD 100 provides bi-directional communicationsaround the distribution transformer to thereby provide a firstcommunications path from the LV power line to the MV power line and asecond path from the MV power line to the LV power line. Thus, BD 100can receive and transmit data to one or more user devices in one or morecustomer premises via the LVI 400, which may be connected to a pluralitycustomer premises via a plurality of LV power lines. In addition, the BD100 may receive and transmit data with other network elements, such asone or more the BPs 10 and other BDs 100, via the MVI 300.

Example BD Path from LV Power Line to MV Power Line

As shown in FIG. 4, signals from the LV power line may enter the BD 100via the LV coupler 410 and LV signal conditioner 420. Example of a PLCS,a BP 10, a BD 100 and associated software and circuitry that may be usedin the BD 100 is provided in U.S. application Ser. No. 11/091,677,entitled “Power Line Repeater System and Method,” filed Mar. 28, 2005,which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. Any type ofcoupler may be used including, but not limited to an inductive coupler,a capacitive coupler, a conductive coupler, or a combination thereof.

LV Modem

The LV modem 450 also may include one or more additional functionalsubmodules such as an Analog-to-Digital Converter (ADC),Digital-to-Analog Converter (DAC), a memory, source encoder/decoder,error encoder/decoder, channel encoder/decoder, MAC (Media AccessControl) controller, encryption module, and decryption module. Thesefunctional submodules may be omitted in some embodiments, may beintegrated into a modem integrated circuit (chip or chip set), or may beperipheral to a modem chip. In the present example embodiment, the LVmodem 450 is formed, at least in part, by part number INT51X1, which isan integrated power line transceiver circuit incorporating most of theabove-identified submodules, and which is manufactured by Intellon, Inc.of Ocala, Fla.

The LV modem 450 provides decryption, source decoding, error decoding,channel decoding, and media access control (MAC) all of which are knownin the art and, therefore, not explained in detail here.

With respect to MAC, however, the LV modem 450 may examine informationin the packet to determine whether the packet should be ignored orpassed to the router 310. For example, the modem 450 may compare thedestination MAC address of the packet with the MAC address of the LVmodem 450 (which is stored in the memory of the LV modem 450). If thereis a match, the LV modem 450 removes the MAC header of the packet andpasses the packet to the router 310. If there is not a match, the packetmay be ignored.

Router

The data packet from the LV modem 450 may be supplied to the router 310,which forms part of the controller 300. The router 310 performsprioritization, filtering, packet routing, access control, andencryption. The router 310 of this example embodiment of the presentinvention uses a table (e.g., a routing table) and programmed routingrules stored in memory to determine the next destination of a datapacket. The table is a collection of information and may includeinformation relating to which interface (e.g., LVI 400 or MVI 200) leadsto particular groups of addresses (such as the addresses of the userdevices connected to the customer LV power lines and other BDs 100),priorities for connections to be used, and rules for handling bothroutine and special cases of traffic (such as voice packets and/orcontrol packets).

The router 310 will detect routing information, such as the destinationaddress (e.g., the destination IP address) and/or other packetinformation (such as information identifying the packet as voice data),and match that routing information with rules (e.g., address rules) inthe table. The rules may indicate that packets in a particular group ofaddresses should be transmitted in a specific direction such as throughthe LV power line (e.g., if the packet was received from the MV powerline and the destination IP address corresponds to a user deviceconnected to the LV power line), repeated on the MV line (e.g., if theBD 100 is acting as a repeater), or be ignored (e.g., if the addressdoes not correspond to a user device connected to the LV power line orto the BD 100 itself).

As an example, the table may include information such as the IPaddresses (and potentially the MAC addresses) of the user devices on theBD's LV subnet, the MAC addresses of the PLMs 50 on the BD's LV subnet,the MV subnet mask (which may include the MAC address and/or IP addressof the BD's BP 10 or RBD 100), the IP (and/or MAC) addresses of otherBDs 100 (e.g., for which the device may be repeating), and the IPaddress of the LV modem 450 and MV modem 280. Based on the destinationIP address of the packet (e.g., an IP address), the router may pass thepacket to the MV modem 280 for transmission on the MV power line.Alternately, if the IP destination address of the packet matches the IPaddress of the BD 100, the BD 100 may process the packet as a command.

In other instances, such as if the user device is not provisioned andregistered, the router may prevent packets from being transmitted to anydestination other than a DNS server or registration server. In addition,if the user device is not registered, the router 310 may replace anyrequest for a web page received from that user device with a request fora web page on the registration server (the address of which is stored inthe memory of the router).

The router 310 may also prioritize transmission of packets. For example,data packets determined to be voice packets may be given higher priorityfor transmission through the BD 100 than data packets so as to reducedelays and improve the voice connection experienced by the user. Routingand/or prioritization may be based on IP addresses, MAC addresses,subscription level, type of data (e.g., power usage data or otherenhanced power distribution system data may be given lower priority thanvoice or computer data), or a combination thereof (e.g., the MAC addressof the PLM or IP address of the user device).

MV Modem

Similar to the LV modem 450, the MV modem 280 receives data from therouter 310 and includes a modulator and demodulator. In addition, the MVmodem 280 also may include one or more additional functional submodulessuch as an ADC, DAC, memory, source encoder/decoder, errorencoder/decoder, channel encoder/decoder, MAC controller, encryptionmodule, frequency conditioning module (to upband and/or downbandsignals) and decryption module. These functional submodules may beomitted in some embodiments, may be integrated into a modem integratedcircuit (chip or chip set), or may be peripheral to a modem chip. In thepresent example embodiment, the MV modem 280 is formed, at least inpart, by part number INT51X1, which is an integrated power linetransceiver circuit incorporating most of the identified submodules andwhich is manufactured by Intellon, Inc. of Ocala, Fla.

The incoming signal from the router 310 (or controller) is supplied tothe MV modem 280, which provides MAC processing, for example, by addinga MAC header that includes the MAC address of the MV modem 280 as thesource address and the MAC address of the BP 10 (and in particular, theMAC address of the MV modem of the BP) or RBD 100 as the destination MACaddress. In addition, the MV modem 280 also provides channel encoding,source encoding, error encoding, and encryption. The data is thenmodulated and provided to the DAC to convert the digital data to ananalog signal.

First MV Signal Conditioner

The modulated analog signal from MV modem 280 is provided to the firstMV signal conditioner, which may provide filtering (anti-alias, noise,and/or band pass filtering) and amplification. In addition, the MVsignal conditioner may provide frequency translation. In thisembodiment, the translation is from the 4-21 MHz band of the LV powerline to the band of the MV power line, which in this embodiment may be ahigher frequency band such as in the 30-50 MHz band. Thus, in thisembodiment, Homeplug compliant data signals (e.g., Homeplug 1.0 orHomeplug AV) may be communicated on the LV power line to and from thecustomer premises. The use of an existing powerline communicationsstandard may reduce the cost of the network and allow for easyinstallation of the equipment. Additionally, the same protocol (e.g.,Homeplug 1.0 or AV) may also be used on the MV power lines at the sameor at a different frequency band (e.g., 30-50 MHz). In anotherembodiment, the translation may be from the 4-30 MHz band of the LVpower line to the band of the MV power line, which may be in the 24-50MHz band. In this embodiment, translation of the frequency isaccomplished through the use of a local oscillator and a conversionmixer. This method and other methods of frequency translation are wellknown in the art and, therefore, not described in detail.

MV Power Coupler Line

Data passing through the MV transmit/receive switch for transmission onthe MV power line is supplied to the MV power line coupler 210, whichmay include impedance translation circuitry, transient suppressioncircuitry, and a coupling device. The coupling device couples the dataonto the MV power line as a transmission.

The coupling device may be inductive, capacitive, conductive, acombination thereof, or any suitable device for communicating datasignals to and/or from the MV power line. Examples of such couplers thatmay form part of an embodiment of the present invention are described inU.S. application Ser. No. 10/348,164, entitled “Power Line CouplingDevice and Method of Using the Same,” filed Jan. 21, 2003, which ishereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

Example BD Path from MV Power Line to LV Power Line

MV Modem

The MV modem 280 receives the output of the first MV signal conditioner260. The MV modem 280 and LV modem 450 provide a bi-directional path andform part of the MV to LV path and the LV to MV path. The components ofthe MV modem 280 have been described above in the context of the LV toMV path and are therefore not repeated here. The incoming signal issupplied to the ADC to convert the incoming analog signal to a digitalsignal. The digital signal is then demodulated. The modem then providesdecryption, source decoding, error decoding, and channel decoding all ofwhich are known in the art and, therefore, not explained in detail here.

The MV modem 280 also provides MAC processing through the use of MACaddresses. In one embodiment employing the present invention, the MACaddress is used to direct data packets to the appropriate device. TheMAC addresses provide a unique identifier for each device on the PLCnetwork including, for example, user devices, BDs, PLMs, repeaters andBPs (i.e., the LV modems and MV modems of the BDs, repeaters, and theBPs).

Based on the destination IP address of a received packet, the BP 10 willdetermine the MAC address of the MV modem 280 of the RBD 100 or, ifthere is a direct connection, of the BD 100 servicing the user device.The information for making this determination is stored in a table inthe memory of the BP 10. The BP 10 will remove the MAC header of thepacket and add a new header that includes the MAC address of the BP 10(as the source address) and the MAC address of the RBD 100 or the BD 100(the layer 2 destination address)—or more specifically, the MAC addressof the MV modem 280 of the next downstream hop BD 100.

Thus, in this embodiment, packets destined for a user device on a LVsubnet of a BD 100 (or to RBD 100) are addressed to the MAC address ofthe MV modem 280 of the BD 100 and may include additional information(e.g., the destination IP address of the user device) for routing thepacket to devices on the BD's LV subnet or to another BD 100 or RBD 100.

If the destination MAC address of the received packet does not match theMAC address of the MV modem 280, the packet may be discarded (ignored).If the destination MAC address of the received packet does match the MACaddress of the MV modem 280, the MAC header is removed from the packetand the packet is supplied to the router 310 for further processing.

There may be a different MAC sublayer for each physical device type suchas for user devices and PLCS network elements (which may include anysubset of devices such as backhaul devices, BDs, RBDs, dedicatedrepeaters, aggregation points, distribution points, and core routers).

Router

The MAC address of a network device will be different from the IPaddress. Transmission Control Protocol (TCP)/IP includes a facilityreferred to as the Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) that permits thecreation of a table that maps IP addresses to MAC addresses. The tableis sometimes referred to as the ARP cache. Thus, the router 310 may usethe ARP cache or other information stored in memory to determine IPaddresses based on MAC addresses (and/or vice versa). In other words,the ARP cache and/or other information may be used with information inthe data packet (such as the destination IP address) to determine thelayer 2 routing of a packet (e.g., to determine the MAC address of thenext downstream hop having the destination IP address).

As discussed above, upon reception of a data packet, the MV modem 280 ofa BD 100 will determine if the destination MAC address of the packetmatches the MAC address of the MV modem 280 and, if there is a match,the packet is passed to the router 310. If there is no match, the packetis discarded.

In this embodiment, the router 310 analyzes packets having a destinationIP address to determine the destination of the packet which may be auser device, the BD 100 itself, a RBD 100, another BD 100, or the BP 10.This analysis includes comparing the information in the packet (e.g., adestination IP address) with information stored in memory, which mayinclude the IP addresses of the user devices on the BD 100 LV subnet. Ifa match is found, the router 310 routes the packet through to the LVmodem 450 for transmission on the LV power line. If the destination IPaddress corresponds the IP address of the BD 100, the packet isprocessed as a command or data intended for the BD 100 (e.g., by theCommand Processing software described below) and may not be passed tothe LV modem 450. If the destination IP address corresponds to anotherBD 100 (or RBD 100), the router may re-address the packet with the nexthop MAC address in the path to the destination BD 100 (or RBD 100) andpass the data to the MV modem for transmission onto the MV power line.Alternately, if the destination IP address corresponds to the BP 10, therouter may re-address the packet with the next upstream hop MAC addressin the path to the BP 10 and pass the data to the MV modem fortransmission onto the MV power line.

The term “router” is sometimes used to refer to a device that routesdata at the IP layer (e.g., using IP addresses). The term “switch” or“bridge” are sometimes used to refer to a device that routes at the MAClayer (e.g., using MAC addresses). Herein, however, the terms “router”,“routing”, “routing functions” and the like are meant to include bothrouting at the IP layer and MAC layer. Consequently, the router 310 ofthe present invention may use MAC addresses instead of, or in additionto, IP addresses to perform routing functions.

In an alternate embodiment using IP address to route data packets, allpackets received by the MV modem 280 may be supplied to the router 310.The router 310 may determine whether the packet includes a destinationIP address that corresponds to a device on the BD's LV subnet (e.g., anaddress corresponding to a user device address or the BD's address).Specifically, upon determining the destination IP address of an incomingpacket, the router 310 may compare the identified destination addresswith the addresses of the devices on the subnet, which are stored inmemory. If there is a match between the destination address and the IPaddress of a user device stored in memory, the data is routed to the LVpower line for transmission to the user device. If there is a matchbetween the destination address and the IP address of the BD 100 storedin memory, the data packet is processed as a command or informationdestined for the BD 100.

In addition, the router 310 may also compare the destination addresswith the IP address of the BP 10, other BDs 100, LV subnets served ofother BDs 100, or other repeaters (for example, if the BD is also actingas a repeater). If there is no match between the destination IP addressand an IP address stored in memory, packet may be discarded (ignored).

According to any of these router embodiments, if the data is addressedto an address on the BD's LV or MV subnet (the network of devices withwhich the BD 100 can communicate and/or for which the BD 100 has an IPaddress stored therein), the router may perform any or all ofprioritization, packet routing, access control, filtering, andencryption.

As discussed, the router 310 of this example embodiment of the presentinvention may use a routing table to determine the destination of a datapacket. Based on information in the routing table and possibly elsewherein memory, the router 310 routes the packets. For example, voice packetsmay be given higher priority than data packets so as to reduce delaysand improve the voice connection experienced by the user. The router 310supplies data packets intended for transmission along the LV power lineto the LV modem 450.

LV Modem

The functional components of the LV Modem 450 have been described abovein the context of the LV to MV path and, therefore, are not repeatedhere. After receiving the data packet from the router 310, the LV modem450 provides MAC processing, which may comprise adding a MAC header thatincludes the source MAC address (which may be the MAC address of the LVmodem 450) and the destination MAC address (which may be the MAC addressof the PLM 50 corresponding to the user device identified by thedestination IP address of the packet).

To determine the MAC address of the PLM 50 that provides communicationsfor the user device identified by the destination IP address of thepacket, the LV modem 450 first determines if the destination IP addressof the packet is an IP address stored in its memory (e.g., stored in itsbridging table). If the IP address is stored in memory, the LV modem 450retrieves the MAC address for communicating with the destination IPaddress (e.g., the MAC address of the PLM 50) from memory, which willalso be stored therein. If the IP address is not stored in memory, theLV modem 450 transmits a request to all the devices to which it iscoupled via the low voltage power line (e.g., all the PLMs). The requestis a request for the MAC address for communicating with the destinationIP address of the packet. The device (e.g., the PLM) that has the MACaddress for communicating with the destination IP address will respondby providing its MAC address. The LV modem 450 stores the received MACaddress and the IP address for which the MAC address providescommunications in its memory (e.g., in its bridging table). The LV modem450 then adds the received MAC address as the destination MAC addressfor the packet.

The packet is then channel encoded, source encoded, error encoded, andencrypted. The data is then modulated and provided to the DAC to convertthe digital data to an analog signal.

Controller

As discussed, the controller 300 includes the hardware and software formanaging communications and control of the BD 100. In this embodiment,the controller 300 includes an IDT 32334 RISC microprocessor for runningthe embedded application software and also includes flash memory forstoring the boot code, device data and configuration information (serialnumber, MAC addresses, subnet mask, and other information), theapplication software, routing table, and the statistical and measureddata. This memory includes the program code stored therein for operatingthe processor to perform the routing functions described herein.

This embodiment of the controller also includes random access memory(RAM) for running the application software and temporary storage of dataand data packets. This embodiment of the controller 300 also includes anAnalog-to-Digital Converter (ADC) for taking various measurements, whichmay include measuring the temperature inside the BD 100 (through atemperature sensor such as a varistor or thermistor), for taking powerquality measurements, detecting power outages, measuring the outputs offeedback devices, and others. The embodiment also includes a “watchdog”timer for resetting the device should a hardware glitch or softwareproblem prevent proper operation to continue.

This embodiment of the controller 300 also includes an Ethernet adapter,an optional on-board MAC and physical (PHY) layer Ethernet chipset thatcan be used for converting peripheral component interconnect (PCI) toEthernet signals for communicating with the backhaul side of the BD 100.Thus, the RJ45 connector may provide a port for a wireless transceiver(which may be a 802.11 compliant transceiver) for communicatingwirelessly to the BP 10 or other BD 100, which, of course, would includea similar transceiver. In an alternate embodiment, the BD 100 mayinclude a MV modem for the NB interface and an Ethernet port for the SBinterface to communicate with user device.

The BD 100 also may have a debug port that can be used to connectserially to a portable computer. The debug port preferably connects toany computer that provides terminal emulation to print debug informationat different verbosity levels and can be used to control the BD 100 inmany respects such as sending commands to extract all statistical,fault, and trend data.

In addition to storing a real-time operating system, the memory ofcontroller 300 of the BD 100 also includes various program code sectionssuch as a software upgrade handler, software upgrade processingsoftware, the PLS command processing software (which receives commandsfrom the PLS, and processes the commands, and may return a status backto the PLS), the ADC control software, the power quality monitoringsoftware, the error detection and alarm processing software, the datafiltering software, the traffic monitoring software, the network elementprovisioning software, and a dynamic host configuration protocol (DHCP)Server for auto-provisioning user devices (e.g., user computers) andassociated PLMs.

In this embodiment, the router 310 (i.e., processor 320 executing therouting program code) shares a bus with the LV modem 450 and MV modem280. Thus, the router 310 in this embodiment is not physically locatedbetween the two modems, but instead all three devices—the router 310, LVmodem 450, and MV modem 280—are communicatively coupled together via thebus. In this embodiment the LV and MV modem physically share the samedata bus, the bus is controlled by controller 300, meaning that packetsgo through the controller 300 and some level of the router 310.Alternately, in an alternate embodiment, in some instances (e.g., at theoccurrence of a particular event) the router 310 may be programmed toallow the LV modem 450 to pass data directly to the MV modem 280 andvice versa, without performing data filtering and/or the other functionsperformed by the router 310 which are described above.

This embodiment of the BD 100 may only receive or transmit data over theLV power line at any one instant. Likewise, the BD 100 may only receiveor transmit data over the MV power line at any one instant. However, aswill be evident to those skilled in the art, the BD 100 may transmit orreceive over the LV power line, while simultaneously transmitting orreceiving data over the MV power line.

PLS Command Processing Software

The PLS and BD 100 (or RBD 100) may communicate with each other throughtwo types of communications: 1) PLS Commands and BD responses, and 2) BDAlerts and Alarms. TCP packets are used to communicate commands andresponses in the current embodiment. The commands typically areinitiated by the NE portion of the PLS. Responses sent by the BD 100(hereinafter to include RBDs 100) may be in the form of anacknowledgement (ACK) or negative acknowledgement (NACK), or a dataresponse depending on the type of command received by the BD 100 (or RBD100).

Commands

In addition to enabling and disabling the repeater functionality, thePLS may transmit any number of commands to the BD 100 to support systemcontrol of BD functionality. As will be evident to those skilled in theart, most of these commands are equally applicable for BDs 100 that havethe repeater function enabled. For ease of discussion, however, thedescription of the commands will be in the context of a BD only. Thesecommands may include altering configuration information, synchronizingthe time of the BD 100 with that of the PLS, controlling measurementintervals (e.g., voltage measurements of the ADC), requestingmeasurement or data statistics, requesting the status of user deviceactivations, and requesting reset or other system-level commands. Any orall of these commands may require a unique response from the BD 100,which is transmitted by the BD 100 and received and stored by the PLS.The PLS may include software to transmit a command to any or all of theBDs 100 (and BPs 10) to schedule a voltage and/or current measurement atany particular time so that all of the network elements of the PLCS takethe measurement(s) at the same time.

Alerts

In addition to commands and responses, the BD 100 (or RBD 100) has theability to send Alerts and Alarms to the PLS (the NEI) via User DatagramProtocol (UDP), which does not require an established connection butalso does not guarantee message delivery.

Alerts typically are either warnings or informational messagestransmitted to the NEI in light of events detected or measured by the BD100. Alarms typically are error conditions detected by the BD 100. Dueto the fact that UDP messages may not be guaranteed to be delivered tothe PLS, the BD 100 may repeat Alarms and/or Alerts that are criticallyimportant to the operation of the device or system.

One example of an Alarm is an Out-of-Limit Alarm that indicates that anout-of-limit condition has been detected at the BD 100, which mayindicate a power outage on the LV power line, an MV or LV voltage tohigh, an MV or LV voltage too low, a temperature measurement inside theBD 100 is too high, and/or other out-of-limit conditions. Information ofthe Out-of-Limit condition, such as the type of condition (e.g., a LVvoltage measurement, a BD temperature), the Out-of-Limit thresholdexceeded, the time of detection, the amount (e.g., over, under, etc.)the out of limit threshold has been exceeded, is stored in the memory ofthe BD 100 and transmitted with the alert or transmitted in response toa request from the PLS.

Software Upgrade Handler

The Software Upgrade Handler software may be started by the BP 10 or BD100 Command Processing software in response to a PLS command.Information needed to download the upgrade file, including for examplethe remote file name and PLS IP address, may be included in theparameters passed to the Software Command Handler within the PLScommand.

Upon startup, the Software Command Handler task may open a file transferprogram such as Trivial File Transfer Protocol (TFTP) to provide aconnection to the PLS and request the file. The requested file may thenbe downloaded to the BD 100. For example, the PLS may transmit theupgrade through the Internet, through the BP 10, through the MV powerline to the BD 100 where the upgrade may be stored in a local RAM bufferand validated (e.g., error checked) while the BD 100 continues tooperate (i.e., continues to communicate packets to and from PLMs and theBP 10). Finally, the task copies the downloaded software into a backupboot page in non-volatile memory, and transmits an Alert indicatingsuccessful installation to the PLS. The BP 10 or BD 100 then makes thedownloaded software the primary boot page and reboots. When the devicerestarts the downloaded software will be copied to RAM and executed. Thedevice will then notify the PLS that it has rebooted via an alertindicating such.

ADC Scheduler

The ADC Scheduler software, in conjunction with the real-time operatingsystem, creates ADC scheduler tasks to perform ADC sampling according toconfigurable periods for each sample type. Each sample type correspondswith an ADC channel. The ADC Scheduler software creates a schedulingtable in memory with entries for each sampling channel according todefault configurations or commands received from the PLS. The tablecontains timer intervals for the next sample for each ADC channel, whichare monitored by the ADC scheduler.

ADC Measurement Software

The ADC Measurement Software, in conjunction with the real-timeoperating system, creates ADC measurement tasks that are responsible formonitoring and measuring data accessible through the ADC 330. Eachseparate measurable parameter may have an ADC measurement task. Each ADCmeasurement task may have configurable rates for processing, recording,and reporting for example.

An ADC measurement task may wait on a timer (set by the ADC scheduler).When the timer expires the task may retrieve all new ADC samples forthat measurement type from the sample buffer, which may be one or moresamples. The raw samples are converted into a measurement value. Themeasurement is given the timestamp of the last ADC sample used to makethe measurement. The measurement may require further processing. If themeasurement (or processed measurement) exceeds limit values, an alertcondition may be generated. Out of limit Alerts may be transmitted tothe PLS and repeated at the report rate until the measurement is backwithin limits. An out of limit recovery Alert may be generated (andtransmitted to the PLS) when the out of limit condition is cleared(i.e., the measured value falls back within limit conditions).

The measurements performed by the ADC 330, each of which has acorresponding ADC measurement task, may include BD inside temperature,LV power line voltage, LV power line current (e.g., the voltage across aresistor), MV power line voltage, and/or MV power line current forexample. MV power line measurements may be accomplished via a separatepower line coupler, which may be an inductive coupler.

As discussed, the BD 100 includes value limits for most of thesemeasurements stored in memory with which the measured value may becompared. If a measurement is below a lower limit or above an upperlimit (or otherwise out of an acceptable range), the BD may transmit anOut-of-Limit Alert, which is received and stored by the PLS. In someinstances, one or more measured values are processed to convert themeasured value(s) to a standard or more conventional data value.

The measured data (or measured and processed data) is stored in thememory of the BD. This memory area contains a circular buffer for eachADC measurement and time stamp. The buffers may be read by the PLSCommand Processing software functionality in response to a request for ameasurement report or on a periodic basis. The measurement data may bebacked up to non-volatile memory by a BD software task.

The LV power line voltage measurement may be used to provide variousinformation. For example, the measurement may be used to determine apower outage, or measure the power used by a consumer or by all of theconsumers connected to that distribution transformer. In addition, itmay be used to determine the power quality of the LV power line bymeasuring and processing the measured values over time to providefrequency, harmonic content, and other power line qualitycharacteristics.

The BD 100 also may include software for the gathering of repeatingstatistics, including but not limited to the number the packets andbytes transmitted from each repeated BD 100, the number of packets andbytes repeated for transmission to each repeated BD 100; and number ofthe packets dropped for each repeated BD 100. The BD software mayinclude a code segment for setting and transmitting the statisticscollection frequency in response to commands transmitted from the PLS.

The statistics collected may be stored periodically to non-volatilememory (e.g., at the same rate and times as the standard BD packetstatistics).

The BD 100 also may include software for configuring a duration alertfor transmitting a notice to the PLS that the statistics are ready orneed to be transmitted to the PLS. The PLS may include software fordetermining when to collect periodic statistics and transmitting arequest for the statistics in response to receiving the notice.

Traffic Monitoring Software

The Traffic Monitoring software may collect various data packet trafficstatistics, which may be stored in memory including the amount of data(i.e., packets and/or bytes) communicated (i.e., transmitted andreceived) through the MV power line, and/or through the LV power line;the amount of data (packets and/or bytes) communicated (transmitted andreceived) to or from the PLS; the number of Alerts and Alarms sent tothe PLS; the number of DHCP messages to or from user devices; the numberof failed user device authentications; the number of failed PLSauthentications; and the number of packets and bytes received and/ortransmitted from/to each user device (or PLM 50).

Rate Limiting

The BD 100 may include software for monitoring the bit rate of aparticular device (e.g., PLM, computer, television, stereo, telephone,fax, gaming device, etc.) and also for rate limiting the communicationsof the device. Thus, if the bit rate (i.e., number of bits communicatedover a given time period) reaches a particular threshold value for thedevice (which may be stored in memory of the BD 100), the BD 100 mayslow or stop (postpone) communications for that device (e.g., until thebeginning of the next time period, which may be one or more seconds,milliseconds, minutes, or microseconds). The threshold value may bereceived from the PLS during initial configuration, after configuration,upon request by the user, or after a modification of the user'ssubscription level.

For example, a user may transmit a request to rate limit a particulardevice to the PLS, which would allow a parent to rate limit thecommunications of a child's gaming device (e.g., Xbox™, orPlaystation™), the child's downloading of music or video, Voice ofInternet Protocol (VoIP), peer to peer communications (e.g., often usedto transfer MP3 music files), or the communication of video or imagefiles. In response, the PLS may transmit a rate limiting command andinformation to the BD 100 to activate rate limiting of the device orprocess, which thereby initiates rate limiting in response to the PLScommand. Thus, rate limiting may be effected for only select devices orprocesses of the subscriber, which may be requested by the user. As anexample, a parent could turn off, turn on, or limit VoIP at certaintimes of the day or days of the week.

The rate limit information transmitted to the BD 100 may includeinformation of the device (e.g., address) and/or process (e.g., whichmay be indicated by the type of packets communicated such as video,gaming, voice, computer, MP3) that are to be rate limited for thatsubscriber or device. Thus, the BD 100 may include information in memorysufficient to recognize certain types of processes (or packets), whichis compared to communicated data to determine if rate limiting should beperformed. Similarly, if rate limiting is based on address information(e.g., of the source and/or destination device), the BD 100 may includerate limiting address information in memory, which is compared toaddress information of the communicated data to determine whether ratelimiting should be performed. The rate limit information may alsoinclude a first threshold value for upstream and a second thresholdvalue for downstream communications, which may or may not be the same.

In one embodiment the home administrator may “setup” all the home users(and their limits) and the information may be stored in memory at the BD100. When a home user logs in, their rule base will be attached to thevirtual interface created by the login to perform the rate limiting. Ina second embodiment, the home administrator may “setup” all the homeusers (and their limits) and the information may be stored in memory ona server at the POP. When a home user logs in, their rule base will beattached to the virtual interface created by the login to perform therate limiting. In a third embodiment, the home administrator may “setup”all the home users (and their limits) and the information may be storedin memory on a server at the POP. When a home user logs in, their rulebase will be attached to the virtual interface created by the login. Theserver will transmit a command and data to dynamically add or removefilter and rate limit rules to the BD 100, which will store the data inmemory and filter and/or rate limit according to the receivedinformation. Rate limiting may implementing via ExtensibleAuthentication Protocol (EAP), Point-to-Point Protocol Over Ethernet(PPPoE), or virtual private network (VPN).

The rate limiting software in the BD 100 (or remote POP server) mayanalyze the data packets and may limit the communication of data packetsthrough the BD 100 based on data packets: 1) that are transmitted to theuser device from a particular source (e.g., from a particular person,PLM, modem, user, domain name, email address, IP address and/or MACsource address); 2) that are transmitted from the user device to aparticular destination (e.g., to a particular person, email address,user, domain name, modem, IP address and/or MAC destination address); 3)that have particular content (e.g., voice data, gaming data, image,audio, and/or video data); 4) based on the time of transmission orreception (e.g., times of the day and/or day(s) of the week); 5) thatsurpass a threshold quantity of data (either transmitted, received, orcombination thereof) for a predetermined window of time (e.g., hour,minute, second, day, week, month, year, or subscription period); and/or6) some combination thereof.

The rate limiting function may be used to rate limit or completely stopany or all such transmissions described above according any of suchconditions. As an example of an application of rate limiting, the usermay limit a particular device (e.g., a VoIP telephone) or data (VoIPdata) to zero bits per second (bps) (i.e., prevent telephone calls) from3 PM to 7 PM on Monday through Friday. Alternately, the user may limitgaming data to 1 Mbps from between 7 PM to 9 PM and allow the defaultrate (e.g., the rate provided to the user via the user's subscriptionwhich may also be controlled by the rate limiting function) during othertimes.

The BD 100 may also implement quality of service (QoS) for packets toand from certain devices, as a means to rate limit or in addition torate limiting. For example, data of live voice communications (e.g.,telephone voice communications) may be given higher priority than videodata, which may be given higher priority than, gaming data, and computerdata. Software on the user device may also add tags (bits) to the datapackets to allow the BD 100 to recognize the type of packet forimplementing QoS, rate limiting, and data filtering. Thus, the BD 100may receive the QoS information via the power line from the PLS for aparticular subscriber, device, or process, and store the information inmemory. Subsequently, the PLS may change the QoS setting in response toa user request or a change in the user's subscription—as instructed bythe PLS. For example, when the user transmits a request to upgrade hisor her subscription from data to voice (telephone) and data, the PLS maytransmit new QoS information to the BD 100 so that voice data of theuser is given higher priority for transmission. Likewise, the PLS maytransmit a similar command to the BP 10 so that voice data of the useris given higher priority for transmission.

Additionally, the PLS (via the BD 100) may transmit QoS information tothe PLM/router device via the power lines, which may perform QoS asdiscussed, which may be in addition to or instead of the QoS performedby the BD 100. Thus, the BD 100 may manage each PLM and router on itssubnet. As will be evident to those skilled in the art, the remote ratelimiting described herein and remote QoS management may also beimplemented in a non-power line system such as for cable modems ordigital subscriber line (DSL) modems.

Data Filtering Software

The Data Filtering software provides filtering of data packetstransmitted to and/or from a user device (or PLM 50). The filteringcriteria may be supplied from the PLS (which may be based on requestsreceived from the user) and is stored in memory of the BD 100 and mayform part of the routing table. The Data Filtering software may analyzethe data packets and may prevent the transmission of data packetsthrough the BD: 1) that are transmitted to the user device from aparticular source (e.g., from a particular person, user, domain name,email address, or IP or MAC source address); 2) that are transmittedfrom the user device to a particular destination (e.g., to a particularperson, email address, user, domain name, or IP or MAC destinationaddress); 3) that have particular content (e.g., voice data or videodata); 4) based on the time of transmission or reception (e.g., times ofthe day and/or days of the week); 5) that surpass a threshold quantityof data (either transmitted, received, or combination thereof for apredetermined window of time (e.g., a day, week, month, year, orsubscription period); or 7) some combination thereof.

Auto-Provision and Activation of Network Components

While skilled in working with power lines, personnel installing the BDs100, who typically are utility linemen, often have little or noexperience in working with communications networks. Consequently, it isdesirable to have a system that permits easy installation of the BDs 100without the need to perform network configuration or other networkinstallation procedures. Upon being physically installed and powered up,the BD 100 typically will not immediately be part of the PLCS network inthat, among other things, it does not have an IP address assigned to it,the address of an upstream gateway, user device information, and has notbeen activated. “Auto-Provisioning” is the term used to refer to theprocedure performed to get a new network element (e.g., a BD 100, or BP10) onto the PLCS network by providing such information and activation.

In the present example embodiment, each network element includes aunique identifier, which may be a serial number. In this embodiment, theenclosure of the BD 100 has a barcode that the installer may scan torecord the serial number. The installer also may record the location(e.g., transformer or pole number) of the installed device. Thisinformation (the identifying information and location) is provided to anetwork administrator for input into the PLS for storage. Alternately,the installer may wirelessly transmit the information to the PLS forreception and storage by the PLS.

Provisioning a New User Device

Similarly, when a user installs a new user device on the LV subnetattached to the BD 100, the user device may need to be provisioned toidentify itself on the network. To do so in this embodiment, the newuser device transmits a DHCP request, which is received and routed bythe BD 100 to a DHCP server running in the controller 300 of the BD 100.In response to the request, the BD 100 may respond by transmitting tothe user device the IP address and subnet mask for the user device, thegateway IP address for the device's network interface to be used as thenetwork gateway (e.g., the IP address of the LV modem 450 of the BD100), and the IP addresses of the Domain Name Servers (DNS) all of whichare stored in memory by the user device. In addition, the BD maytransmit a new user device Alert to the PLS.

After provisioning, it may be necessary to register the user device withthe network, which may require providing user information (e.g., name,address, phone number, etc.), payment information (e.g., credit cardinformation or power utility account information), and/or otherinformation to the registration server. The registration server maycorrelate this information with information of the utility company orInternet service provider. The registration server may form part of, orbe separate from, the PLS. Until registered, the BD 100 prevents theuser device (through its PLM 50) from communicating with (receiving datafrom or transmitting data to) any external network computer other thanthe registration server or the two DNSs. Thus, until the user device isregistered, the BD 100 may filter data packets transmitted to and/orfrom the user device that are not from or to the registration server ora DNS. In addition, requests (such as HTTP requests) for other Internetweb pages may be redirected and transmitted as a request for theregistration web page on the registration server, which responds bytransmitting the registration web page. Control of access of the userdevice may be performed by limiting access based on the IP address ofthe user device to the IP addresses of the registration server and DNSs.

After registration is successfully completed, the registration servercommunicates with the PLS to provide registration information of theuser device to the PLS. The PLS transmits an activation message for theuser device (or PLM 50) to the BD 100. In response, the BD 100 removescommunication restrictions and permits the user device (and PLM 50) tocommunicate through the PLCS to all parts of the Internet. As will beevident to those skilled in the art, filtering of data and controllingaccess of the user device may be performed by limiting access based onthe IP address or MAC address of the user device or the MAC address ofthe PLM 50 to which the user device is connected. Thus, the BD 100 maycompare the source IP address (or MAC address) with information in itsmemory to determine if the IP address (or MAC address) is an addressthat has been granted access to the PLCS and beyond. The procedureabove, or portions of the procedure, with respect to provisioning userdevices may be used to provision a PLM instead of or in addition to auser device.

Furthermore, the repeater functionality may be used to repeat data toand from a pair of BPs 10. For example, a RBD 100 may receive data froma first BP 10 and repeat the data for reception by a second BP 10 in amanner described herein. The second BP 10 may also receive user datafrom the RBD 100 and other BDs 100. Similarly, the RBD 100 may receivedata from the second BP 10 and repeat the data onto the MV power linefor reception by the first BP 10, which may transmit that data to BDs100 on its MV run. This application of the present invention may furtherreduce the need for backhaul media. In this embodiment, communicationswith the first BP 10 may employ a different NEK than the communicationswith the second BP 10 (and its child BDs 100). In an alternateembodiment, communications between the RBD 100 and one or both BPs 10may use a communications channel that is orthogonal to the channel usedby the child BDs 100 of the first and/or second BP 10. For example, thecommunications channel may employ a different frequency band (e.g.,different than the band used for communications between the child BDs100 and their BP 10), UWB, surface waves, wireless, or use the neutralconductor for communications (instead of the MV conductor). Thus, in theupstream direction, data may be received by a BD 100, by a first RBD100, by the first BP 10, by a second RBD 100, by the second BP 10, andby the AP 20. Downstream communications may follow the reverse path. TheMV link of the present invention may be to provide upstreamcommunications for a digital subscriber line (DSL) or high speed coaxialcable. Thus, the BD 100 may communicate with one or more users via acoaxial cable (DOCSIS) link or DSL link. Likewise, the backhaul link maybe a DSL link or high speed coaxial cable (DOCSIS) link.

The BPs 10 described herein may include a medium voltage interface (MVI)and controller as described herein for use in the BD 100. The BP mayalso include a low voltage interface for servicing users via the lowvoltage power lines or other type of transceiver (e.g., a wirelessmodem) for servicing users via another medium such as wireless, coaxial,fiber optic, or twisted pair. Thus, the BP with a low voltage or otheruser device interface may perform rate limiting for the user devices andthe BP's BDs 100, QoS of data from user devices and its BDs 100, andrate limiting of repeaters. The BP 10 also may include a backhaul modemfor communicating upstream via the backhaul link. The backhaul modem maybe a power line modem (e.g., forming part of the MVI or separatetherefrom) for communicating via the MV power line or neutral conductor,a fiber optic transceiver, a wireless transceiver, a cable modem (e.g.,a DOCSIS compliant modem), a digital subscriber line (DSL) modem, and/orother suitable modem.

Finally, the PLS may transmit commands to one or more of the BDs 100 torepeat certain types of data more often than other types of data. Forexample, power usage data or other enhanced power distribution system(EPDS) data may not be time sensitive data and, therefore, additionalrepeating of that data, and the added latency that may be caused by theadditional repeating may be tolerable. Consequently, each BD 100 may beconfigured to repeat certain (and different) types of data. For example,a first BD 100 on an MV run may be configured to repeat all data andanother BD 100 on the at MV run may be configured to repeat only EPDSdata. Thus, routing of the data may also be dependent on the data type.

Alternate Embodiments

As discussed, the BD 100 of the above embodiment communicates datasignals to user devices via the LV power line. Rather than communicatingdata signals to the PLM 50 and/or user devices via the LV power line,the BD 100 may use other communication media. For example, the BD mayconvert the data signals to a format for communication via a telephoneline (e.g., DSL signals), fiber optic, RF cable, or coaxial cable line.Such communication may be implemented in a similar fashion to thecommunication with LV power line as would be well known to those skilledin the art.

In addition, the BD 100 may communicate wireless signals over a wirelesscommunication link to the user device(s). In this case, the user devicemay be coupled to a wireless transceiver for communicating through thewireless communication link. The wireless communication link may be awireless link implementing a network protocol in accordance with an IEEE802.11 (e.g., a, b, or g) standard.

Alternatively, the BD 100 may communicate with the user device via fiberoptic link. In this alternative embodiment, the BD 100 may convert thedata signals to light signals for communication over the fiber opticlink. In this embodiment, the customer premises may have a fiber opticcable for carrying data signals, rather than using the internal wiringof customer premise.

In another embodiment of the present invention the BD 100 may be linkedto the customer premises via a coaxial cable. The coaxial cable may beconnected to the BD 100 on its first end and to the low voltage powerline on its second end via a power line/coaxial coupler (PLCC) at thecustomer premises. The PLCC may be comprised of a pair of high passfilters that permit the higher frequency data signals to couple betweenthe coaxial cable and the power line, but prevent the lower frequencypower signals from coupling therebetween. The first high pass filter maycouple the concentric conductor of the coaxial cable to the neutral LVconductor and the second filter may couple the center conductor of thecoaxial cable to the first energized LV conductor. The PLCC may make theconnection to the LV power line by being plugged into an external outletor be integrated into an external outlet (e.g., and having a coaxialconnector exposed externally for connection). The PLCC also may includeimpedance matching and transient suppression circuits. Alternately, thePLCC may be integrated into the power meter (e.g., which may have thecoaxial connector exposed) in which case the first filter of the PLCCmay be coupled to the second energized LV conductor (e.g., instead ofthe neutral) to differentially transmit the data signals on the two LVenergized conductors.

In an alternate embodiment, the PLCC may include a first modem and apower line modem (e.g., a power line modem chip set) communicativelycoupled together. The first modem may provide communications with the BD100 and the PLM may provide communications for the other PLMs in thecustomer premises that are coupled to the internal electrical wiring.The communications with the BD 100 may be OFDM (wherein the first modemmay be a power line modem chip set) or DOCSIS (wherein the first modemmay be a cable modem). In other embodiments, instead of a coaxial cablelink between the BD 100 and the customer premises, the link may be atwisted pair, Ethernet, optical fiber or wireless. In still anotherembodiment, the BD 100 may not be connected to the internal LV powerline network but instead may be connected to a customer premiseswireless network (e.g., 802.11), the internal twisted pair telephonenetwork, or the internal coaxial cable network.

Specifically, the BD 100 may include a wireless transceiver (e.g., abroadband transceiver such as an 802.11 transceiver) and communicatewith a wireless broadband transceiver at the customer premises. Thecustomer premises (CP) wireless device may include a wireless broadbandtransceiver and a power line modem that are communicatively coupled toeach other. The CP wireless device may be plugged into a socket toderive power from the socket therefrom and to connect the power linemodem of the CP wireless device to the internal power line network forcommunications to other power line modems (and their associated userdevices) in the customer premises.

In any of these non-power line links to the customer premises, the BD100 may include another transceiver, which may be a PLM, DOCSIS modem,digital subscriber line (DSL) modem, fiber optic transceiver, orwireless transceiver that is suitable for the access link. Thistransceiver may be employed instead of, or in addition to, the LVIdescribed above, as determined by the architecture of the system. Thus,user devices in some customer premises may communicate with the BD 100via a coaxial cable (via a first modem in the BD 100) and user devicesin other customer premises may communicate with the BD 100 via their lowvoltage power lines (via a second modem in the BD, which may be a powerline modem chip set). In some embodiments of the PLCS, the system mayinclude a filter device (e.g., low pass filter) at or near the powermeter so that in-home power line network communications do not egressonto the LV subnet and interfere with the power line communicationsbetween the BD 100 and other customer premises.

Furthermore, if significant bandwidth is needed, communications for userdevices in a single home may use both the power line and non-power linemedium. For example, high definition television data may be transmittedvia the coaxial cable (which may also be connected to the internalcoaxial cable network of the home instead of the LV power lines) andInternet traffic may be communicated via the low voltage power lines.Thus, the BD 100 may prioritize and route data traffic to theappropriate access link according to the data type (e.g., voice,Internet radio, video, image, Internet (HTML), and video gaming data),packet size (e.g., giving smaller packets lower or higher priority),and/or transmitting device (e.g., telephone device given higherpriority).

In another embodiment, the PLCS may be used by the subscriber as abackup service to a cable Internet service provider (ISP), wireless ISP,or a DSL ISP. Thus, the BD 100 may be coupled to a switch in thecustomer premises. The switch may be a three port device with one portconnected to the user device (e.g., a computer), a second port connectedto the alternate ISP system and the third port connected to the PLCS(i.e., the BD 100). If the alternate ISP fails, or becomes slowed (e.g.,due to high data traffic), the switch can be actuated to switch userdevice to be connected to the PLCS. Thus, the user device (e.g.,computer), or the PLM, may include software for detecting a failedconnection and/or a slowed connection, and for automatically actuating aswitch to change to a different broadband provider upon detection.Alternately, the user device may be coupled to both the PLCS and thealternate ISP to increase bandwidth for the user, which may require arouter at the customer premises. The alternate ISP may be used for sometypes of traffic (e.g., voice) and the PLCS may be used for other typesof data types (e.g., Internet, HDTV).

In the customer premises, a single PLM may be connected to multiple userdevices via a router. The router may be separate or integrated into thesame housing as the PLM. The connection from the PLM/router to the userdevices may be via an Ethernet connection, twisted pair, coaxial cable,or wireless (e.g., 802.11). Thus, the device may comprise a PLMconfigured to be plugged into a wall socket to receive and transmit datasignals to and from the BD 100. The PLM may be connected to (orintegrated into the same housing as) the router (e.g., via a bus orEthernet connection). The router may be communicatively coupled to aplurality user devices (such as any of those described herein) via anEthernet connection. Alternately, the router may be connected to awireless transceiver (e.g., 802.11 or Bluetooth™) for wirelesscommunications to a plurality of user devices. The Ethernet or wirelesstransceiver may also be integrated into the same housing as the PLM androuter. In still another embodiment, the device may include both anEthernet transceiver and wireless transceiver (in addition to the routerand PLM).

The BD 100 may also include software for storing and distributing datato user devices (or caching certain data). For example, the PLS (orother remote computer system) may transmit advertisements to the BD 100for storage in the BD 100. In addition, distribution informationassociated with the advertisements also may be transmitted to the BD 100for storage. Thus, the BD 100 may transmit specific advertisements to aparticular users based on the location of the user or other userinformation. The advertisements may be presented to the user as audioand/or visual and include pop-up advertisements, presented in“dashboard” area, and/or presented in a screen saver. The user devicemay include software for receiving and displaying the advertisements. Inaddition, the BD 100 may cache certain data (e.g., web pages),substantially similar to the manner in which pages are cached by the webbrowsers on computers. Furthermore, the BD 100 may buffer video data inits memory.

The PLCS may be used to detect a power outage and a power restoration.The PLS may periodically receive a ping or other communication from theBPs 10 and/or BDs 100. Alternately, the PLS may periodically transmit acommand to select network elements (e.g., the BPs 10) and monitorcommunications for a response to the command. In either instance, if acommunication is not received from the network element(s) within apredetermined time period as expected, the PLS may determine that apower outage has occurred. Upon detection of a power outage, the PLS mayretrieve the location information of the non-responding (ornon-communicative) devices, and transmit a power outage notice thatincludes the location information to the electric utility provider,which may dispatch utility crews to repair the outage. The PLS may storea list of devices (e.g., either BPs 10 or BPs 10 and BDs 100) for whichthere are no communications or are otherwise deemed to be located in anpower outage area. The list of devices may include identifyinginformation for each device, such as serial number, location, MACaddress (e.g., of the northbound interface), IP address, or any othersuitable identifier.

After a power outage has been detected, the PLS may monitor forcommunications from any of the devices located in an area for which apower outage had been detected. Upon receiving a communication from anysuch devices, such as an activation request or other initializationcommunication, the PLS may compare the identification informationtransmitted by the device (e.g., serial number, MAC address (e.g., ofthe northbound interface), location IP address, or any other suitableidentifier) with the stored identifying information of the devices forwhich a power outage had been detected. If the PLS determines, based onthe comparison, that a device in a power outage area is now receivingpower, the PLS may transmit a notification, along with locationinformation of the device(s) for which the power has been restored, tothe electric utility provider.

The PLCS of the present invention may provide an “always on”communications channel. In an always on system, there are time periodswhen there is excess or unused bandwidth available. In other words,sometimes such systems are not being used to capacity or even nearcapacity, such as late at night or early in the morning. Thus, the PLCS(or other communications system) may offer services to make use of thisotherwise unused communications capacity. For example, the PLCS operatormay periodically backup all information (or substantially all data otherthan applications) from the user's computer system to a remote storagedevice. The transmission of the backed up information may begin early inthe morning (e.g., 1:00 AM) when system resources are largely unused asdictated by the PLS. The backup may be performed periodically, such asdaily, weekly, or monthly, or after receiving a request from the user inwhich case the backup may begin immediately or during the next non-peakor low use time period. The user may request the backup information,which may be transmitted to the user device via the PLCS or sent viamail (e.g., on a compact disc) to the user in response to thetransmitted request.

The BD 100 described above may include a controller, low voltageinterface, and medium voltage interface. The controller in the aboveembodiments may perform routing functions, which in some systemsrequires the demodulation of the received signals (in order to performthe routing). In another system, a different device (referred to hereinas a high speed converter (HSC) device) may be located at thetransformer or otherwise coupled to the MV power line and providecommunications between the MV power line and the customer premises. TheHSC device may include an MV coupler, such as the coupler describedabove and described in the application incorporated herein. Uponentering the HSC device, data from the coupler may traverse through afirst filter, a first amplifier, a first frequency converter, a secondfilter, and a second amplifier to an antenna for wireless communicationsto the user devices at the customer premises (which themselves arecoupled to a wireless transceiver). The first filter may band passfilter the data signals received from the MV power line (e.g., in the30-50 Mhz), which is then amplified by the first amplifier. The filteredand amplified signals may then be frequency converted to the frequencyused for wireless transmission. The frequency converted data signal maythen filtered for the band of frequencies used for the wirelesstransmissions by the second filter, amplified by the second amplifier,and then transmitted via the antenna.

Data may also be wirelessly received from user devices at the customerpremises via the antenna. Upon entering the HSC device, data from theantenna may traverse through a third filter, third amplifier, a secondfrequency converter, a fourth filter, and a fourth amplifier to the MVcoupler for communication onto the MV power line to a RBD 100 or BP 10.The third filter may band pass filter the data signals received from theantenna (e.g., in an 802.11 or 60 Ghz band), which may then amplified bythe third amplifier. The filtered and amplified signals may then befrequency converted to the frequency used for transmission over the MVpower line (e.g., in the 30-50 Mhz). The frequency converted data signalmay then filtered for the band of frequencies used for the MV power linetransmissions by the fourth filter, amplified by the fourth amplifier,and then transmitted on the MV power line via the MV coupler. Onebenefit of the HSC device is that the lack of demodulation, modulation,and routing results in a very fast throughput, thereby being a device oflow latency suitable for voice, video, gaming, and other real-time andlow latency communications applications.

Other embodiments of the HSC device may include the components recitedherein, but in a different sequence (e.g., the placement of the filterand amplifier may be reversed) or may have more (e.g., different) orfewer functional components than those described herein. The wirelesssignals may be transmitted via a licensed band or unlicensed band andmay employ frequencies in any of the 4-21 MHz, 30-50 MHz, 2.4 GHz, 5Ghz, 24 GHz, and/or 60 GHz bands. The wireless communications may employany suitable wireless protocol such as, for example purposes only, thoseof IEEE 802.11 a, b or g or a HomePlug compliant protocol (e.g., 1.0 orAV) transmitted wirelessly. The MV power line communications may use anysuitable frequencies such as the 30-50 MHz or others. The MV power linecommunications may employ the same protocols as the wirelesstransmission (e.g., 802.11 a, b, or g or a HomePlug compliant protocolsuch as 1.0 of AV) transmitted conductively. In one embodiment, at thecustomer premises the wireless signals are converted (if necessary)between wireless transmission frequency band and the 4-21 MHz band,which are used communicate over the customer premises internal powerlines (e.g., Homeplug signals) via a powerline/wireless transceiverdevice. If necessary, the customer premises device may demodulate,routed, and modulate the data signals in order to change from thewireless protocol to the customer premises power line protocol (e.g.HomePlug).

Miscellaneous

As discussed, the functions of the PLM may be integrated into a smartutility meter such as a gas meter, electric meter, or water meter. Themeter may be assigned an IP address by the PLCS (e.g., by the PLS) and,upon receiving a request or at predetermined intervals, transmit datasuch as consumption data to the BD 100, the PLS, and/or a utilitycomputer system in a manner described herein, thereby eliminating theneed to have utility personnel physically travel to read the meter.Thus, the meters may transmit real time power usage data, which may bestored at the PLS. A customer (or operator) may then access a database(e.g., via the internet with a web browser) to determine his or herreal-time pricing (RTP), critical peak pricing (CPP) and time-of-use(TOU) pricing. The operator may further determine the total power beingutilized by the network, and compare the data with the power beingsupplied to determine the efficiency of the network. In addition, one ormore addressable switches, which may form part of a utility meter, maybe controlled via the PLCS (e.g., with commands transmitted from the BD100, the PLS, and/or utility computer system) to permit connection anddisconnection of gas, electricity, and/or water to the customerpremises. The meter also may be connected to the BD 100 via a coaxialcable that is connected to a connector on the meter collar, therebyproviding a separate link to the meter. In addition, if a data filterhas been installed on the LV power line, the coaxial cable may becoupled to the LV power line(s) on the customer premises side of thefilter via the PLCC device described above to provide a path around thefilter. The coaxial cable may provide a customer premises access linkthat does not interfere with other customers on the same LV subnet,because the coaxial cable is not connected to the other customerpremises while the LV power lines of all the customer premises on the LVsubnet are connected.

Similarly, the PLCS may be used to control MV power line switches. Theaddressable MV power line switch may be a motorized switch and assignedan IP address by the PLS, which is also provided to the utility computersystem to thereby operate the switch. When a power outage is detected,the utility company may remotely operate one or more addressable MVpower line switches to provide power to the area where the outage isdetected by transmitting commands to the IP addresses of the switches.

Likewise, the PLCS may be used to monitor, control and automate acapacitor switch that inserts or removes a capacitor (or capacitor bank)into the power distribution system. Capacitor banks are used to improvethe efficiency of the power distribution network by providing Volt/VArmanagement (e.g., modifying the reactance of the power distributionnetwork). Thus, the PLS may assign an IP address to one or morecapacitor switches, which is also provided to the utility computersystem to thereby operate the switch. Based on power qualitymeasurements taken and received from one or more BDs 100, the utilitycompany may insert or remove one or more capacitor banks by remotelyactuating one or more capacitor bank switches by transmitting commandsto the IP addresses of the switches.

The capacitor switch and the MV power line switch may be controlled byan embodiment of the present invention that includes an MV interface andcontroller. In addition, in some embodiments an LV interface may also beemployed.

The PLM 50 in the above embodiments has been described as a device thatis separate from the user device. However, the PLM 50 may also beintegrated into and form part of the user device. In addition, the PLMmay form part of a CP wireless network device. The CP wireless networkdevice may include a PLM for communicating with the BD 100 or otheraccess device. The PLM may be communicatively coupled to a router, whichalso may be communicatively coupled to a wireless transceiver (e.g.,802.11) for communicating with the user devices in the customerpremises. Thus, the CP wireless network device may facilitate using theLV power lines and a wireless link to provide broadband access, whilealso providing a wireless network which may link the user devicestogether.

While the above described embodiments utilize a single modem in the LVinterface and in the MV interface, alternate embodiments may usemultiple modems in the LV interface and/or multiple modems in the MVinterface. For example, the LV interface may comprise a receive path(for receiving data from the LV power lines) that includes an LV modemand signal conditioning circuitry and a transmit path (for transmittingdata through the LV power lines) that includes a second LV modem andsignal conditioning circuitry. Each LV modem may have a separate address(MAC and/or IP address) and operate at a separate frequency band. Thus,the receive or transmit LV interfaces may also include frequencytranslation circuitry for one or more of the LV modems.

Likewise, as another example the MV interface may comprise a receivepath (for receiving data from the MV power line) that includes an MVmodem and signal conditioning circuitry and a transmit path (fortransmitting data through the MV power line) that includes a second MVmodem and associated signal conditioning circuitry. Each MV modem mayhave a separate address (MAC and/or IP address) and operate at aseparate frequency band. Thus, the receive or transmit MV interfaces mayalso include frequency translation circuitry for each MV Modem. Thus,the first MV modem may communicate in the 30-50 Mhz band and the secondMV modem may communicate in the 4-21 Mhz or 4-30 Mhz band. In analternate embodiment, both MV modems (and LV modems) may transmit andreceive data and may be remotely enabled from a command transmitted fromthe PLS. In other words, the first and second MV modem (and first andsecond LV modem) may be enabled or disabled remotely upon receiving thecorresponding enable/disable command from the PLS (transmitted via theMV power line). Thus, if there is enough attenuation of the data signalsby the distribution transformers (so that LV signals do not bleedthrough the transformer and be received by either of the MV modems),both the LV band and the MV band may be used for communications over theMV and LV power lines. In addition, an RBD 100 may be employed in amanner that allows it repeat data without providing communications toany user devices (e.g., over the LV power lines) similar to a dedicatedrepeater. In such an instance, it may be desirable to disable the LVmodem(s) and enable both MV modems for additional MV power linebandwidth and capacity (e.g., for providing backhaul linkcommunications). In one embodiment of the present invention, the systemmay used to communicate EPDS data and therefore communicate the data byrepeating the data over the MV power line or neutral conductor (e.g.,via many dozens of RBDs 100). Such data might be repeated for one, two,five, ten or more miles as the data may not be latency sensitive. Ifbroadband latency sensitive data needed to be communicated, BPs 10 andassociated backhaul links may be installed along the PLCS network asneeded.

As will be evident to those skilled in the art, the BPs 10 and PLMs 50for communicating with these alternate embodiments of the bypass device(or RBD) would also require similar circuitry for transmitting andreceiving with multiple modems and in the different frequency bands.More specifically, the modified BP 10 and/or PLM 50 would also require afirst and second modem for transmitting and receiving, respectively, anddesigned to operate in the appropriate frequency bands for establishingcommunications. Such a system may permit full duplex communicationsthrough the power lines.

While the described embodiments may apply the data signals to one MVconductor (and the data signals may couple to other conductors), otherembodiments may apply the data signals differentially. For example, afirst MV coupler (and an associated MV interface) may be coupled to afirst MV conductor for transmitting data on the MV conductor and asecond MV coupler may be coupled to a second MV conductor for receivingthe return current of the transmitted data. The two couplers may thusshare a single MV modem. Similarly, the first and second couplers(coupled to the first and second MV power line conductors) may transmit(and receive) the data signals differentially. Thus, the same datasignal may be transmitted down multiple MV conductors with the signal oneach conductor being phase shifted (e.g., 120 degrees or 180 degrees)with respect to the signal(s) on the other conductor(s) or withsubstantially equal and opposite voltage polarity. Alternately, in anyof these embodiments, the neutral conductor may be used (e.g., as areturn path or separate transmission path) instead of one or more of theMV conductors.

The BP 10 may be coupled to each phase of the MV power line. Inpractice, however, this may not be necessary. In some embodiments, suchas those communicating through overhead MV conductors, data signals maycouple across the MV conductors. In other words, data signalstransmitted on one MV phase conductor may be present on all of the MVphase conductors due to the data coupling between the conductors. As aresult, the BP 10 may not need to be physically connected to all threephase conductors of the MV power lines and transmission from the BP 10when coupling to one MV phase conductor will be received by the BDs 100connected to the other MV phase conductors and vice versa. In someembodiments, however, which may include underground MV cables, it may bedesirable to couple the BP 10 to all of the available phase conductors.

The BD 100 of the present invention also may include one or more sensors2500 (see FIG. 3) for collecting data, which may be processed, storedand/or transmitted to the PLS or other computer for processing and/orstorage. For example, the BD 100 may include a level sensor incorporatedinside its housing or attached to the utility pole that senses whetherthe sensor is level with ground (i.e., perpendicular to the pull ofgravity). Thus, provided the level sensor is installed so that it islevel to the ground, the BD 100, via the level sensor, can sense when(or if) the utility pole becomes tilted relative to the ground. Thus,the BD 100 may periodically detect or poll the level sensor. Upondetection of a tilt via the level sensor, the BD 100 may transit analarm to the PLS, which may automatically and electronically transmit anotification to the computer system of the utility in order to dispatcha repair or inspection crew.

The BD 100 may also include one or more electric current sensors, whichmay include a magnetically permeable toroid and winding therethrough. Atthe utility pole, each current sensor may be coupled around a separateLV energized conductor connected to a customer premises. The winding maybe connected to a resistor (which also is connected to ground) that isalso connected an ADC, whose voltage may be periodically read by theprocessor. Thus, the BD 100 may periodically measure the current flowingto each customer premises (in each LV energized conductor), which may beprocessed, stored, and transmitted to the PLS (which may furtherprocess, store, and/or transmit the data). Because the BD 100 may alsomeasure the voltage supplied to the customer premises, the BD 100 maythus be used to measure the power consumption of each customer premises.The real-time power consumption data may be stored in memory of the PLSor another computer and be supplied to the user upon transmitting arequest for power usage data, which may be supplied to the user alongwith the real-time consumption cost to the user (i.e., the user'sutility bill to date) via the PLCS. The data may also be processed bythe BD 100 or PLS to provide customer load characteristics and patterns.Other sensors 2500 that may be connected to the BD 100 may include acamera (e.g., for monitoring security, detecting motion, confirming atruck roll, vegetation management, or monitoring automobile trafficflow), an audio input device (e.g., microphone for detecting noise,noise patterns, or particular sounds—any of which may be a precede andtherefore predict an insulator or other EPDN component failure), avibration sensor, a motion sensor (e.g., an infrared motion sensor), awind speed and direction sensor, a thermometer (for measuring ambienttemperature or measuring the temperature of the transformer casing,which may be value in predicting a transformer failure), and/or abarometer. The cameras also may be used to monitor electrical powerdistribution network infrastructure, such as substations, or to viewpower usage meters therein or elsewhere. The camera may be remotelycontrolled to allow zooming in, zooming out, panning left, right, up, ordown. The video data or other sensed data may be transmitted via thePLCS to a remote computer for processing or may be processed by the BD100. If the BD 100 or remote computer makes a detection (e.g., detectsnoise or a particular sound, detects motion, detects a qualifiedvibration, detects a pole tilt, etc.), an automated notification may betransmitted to the utility company or a user as the case may be. Suchnotification may also traverse the PLCS.

Other sensors that may be connected to, or integrated with, a power linemodem inside the customer premises and communicate data via the BD 100to a user device via the PLCS and Internet. Such sensors may include acamera (e.g., for monitoring security, detecting motion, monitoringchildren's areas, monitoring a pet area), an audio input device (e.g.,microphone for monitoring children, detecting noises), a vibrationsensor, a motion sensor (e.g., an infrared motion sensor for security),a home security system, a smoke detector, a heat detector, a carbonmonoxide detector, a natural gas detector, a thermometer, a barometer.The video data, audio or other sensed data may be transmitted via thePLCS to a remote computer for processing and/or presentation (audibly,visually, textually, and/or graphically) to the user via the internet ona presentation device such as a computer, mobile telephone, personaldigital assistant (PDA), or other device. In addition, the power linemodem may be connected to, or integrated with, control devices to allowthe user to similarly remotely monitor (e.g., to receive settings and/orstatus such as on or off) and control (e.g., to turn on, turn off,and/or change settings) various home appliances and systems via any ofthe same user devices. For example, the power line modem may beconnected to, or integrated into, a thermostat (to control heat and airconditioning and/or temperature setting), humidifier, air filteringmechanism, home computer, personal video recorder (e.g., to remotely setor start recording), tuner, digital cable set top box, video cassetterecorder, stereo, oven, audio input device, video camera(s),refrigerator, dishwasher, hot water heater, fan, light, lighting system(e.g., to turn on or off select lights), copier, printer, answeringmachine, router, sprinkler system (e.g., to turn on or off selectsprinklers), whirlpool (e.g., to remotely fill and/or heat), pool (e.g.,to control heating, lighting, and/or filtering), motion sensor, homesecurity system, smoke detector, natural gas detector, carbon monoxidedetector, and heat detector. Likewise, detections by these sensors(e.g., a smoke detector detecting smoke) may cause a notification to besent to the user device via the PLCS.

While the above embodiments of the BD 100 have been described as beingcommunicatively coupled to a single LV subnet, other embodiments may beconnected to multiple LV subnets. For example, the BD 100 may have twoLV interfaces, with each LV interface being connected to a different LVsubnet. Alternately, the BD 100 may have a single LV interface with twosets of connecting conductors and with each connecting conductor have ahigh pass filter in series with the connecting conductor (to isolate thepower signals from the respective LV subnets). Alternately, two BDs 100may be installed at one utility pole, but share a signal MV coupler thatis connected to a “Y” connector, or splitter, which feeds the two BDs100. Each BD 100, however, may be connected to separate LV subnets.

In the above embodiment, the processor performs routing functions andmay act as a router in some instances and perform other functions atother times depending on the software that is presently being executed.The router may also be a chip, chip set, or circuit board (e.g., such asan off the shelf circuit card) specifically designed for routing, any ofwhich may include memory for storing, for example, routing information(e.g., the routing table) including MAC addresses, IP addresses, andaddress rules.

Finally, the type of data signal coupled by the coupling device may beany suitable type of data signal. The type of signal modulation used canbe any suitable signal modulation used in communications (Code DivisionMultiple Access (CDMA), Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), FrequencyDivision Multiplex (FDM), Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplex(OFDM), and the like). OFDM may be used for one or both of the LV and MVpower lines. A modulation scheme producing a wideband signal such asCDMA or OFDM that is relatively flat in the spectral domain may be usedto reduce radiated interference to other systems while still deliveringhigh data communication rates.

In addition, instead of using OFDM signals on the MV power line or LVpower line, an alternate embodiment of a PLCS system may use ultrawideband signals or surface wave signals (Goubau waves) to providecommunications over the MV and/or LV power lines. In another embodiment,instead of using the MV power lines, the signals, which may be OFDM,UWB, surface waves signals, or another type of signal, may betransmitted on the neutral conductor(s) that span from transformer totransformer. Use of the neutral conductor may reduce the need to isolatefrom the high voltage of the MV power line and thereby reduce the costof installation and of the coupler.

It is to be understood that the foregoing illustrative embodiments havebeen provided merely for the purpose of explanation and are in no way tobe construed as limiting of the invention. Words used herein are wordsof description and illustration, rather than words of limitation. Inaddition, the advantages and objectives described herein may not berealized by each and every embodiment practicing the present invention.Further, although the invention has been described herein with referenceto particular structure, materials and/or embodiments, the invention isnot intended to be limited to the particulars disclosed herein. Rather,the invention extends to all functionally equivalent structures, methodsand uses, such as are within the scope of the appended claims. Thoseskilled in the art, having the benefit of the teachings of thisspecification, may affect numerous modifications thereto and changes maybe made without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention.

1. A device for communicating data packets via an electric distributionnetwork that includes a low voltage power line subnet, comprising: afirst modem configured to be communicatively coupled to the low voltagepower line subnet; a second modem configured to be communicativelycoupled to a communications medium; a processor in communication withsaid first modem and said second modem; a memory communicatively coupledto said processor; a computer readable medium being encoded withexecutable instructions to cause said processor to store in said memoryrate limit information received via said second modem; said computerreadable medium encoded with executable instructions to cause saidprocessor to determine a rate limit for a plurality of received datapackets based, at least in part, on the rate limit information; saidexecutable instructions cause said processor to cause transmission of atleast some of the plurality of data packets in accordance with the ratelimit; and wherein said computer readable medium is encoded withexecutable instructions to cause said processor to determine quality ofservice information for a remote power line modem connected to the lowvoltage power line subnet and to cause said first modem to transmit saidquality of service information to the remote power line modem via thelow voltage power line subnet.
 2. The device of claim 1, wherein saidrate limit is based, at least in part, on the source of the plurality ofdata packets.
 3. The device of claim 1, wherein the rate limit is based,at least in part, on a destination address of the plurality of datapackets.
 4. The device of claim 1, wherein said rate limit is based, atleast in part, on the type of data in the plurality of data packets. 5.The device of claim 1, wherein said rate limit is based, at least inpart, on at least one of the time of day and the day of week.
 6. Thedevice of claim 1, wherein said rate limit is based, at least in part,on the size of the plurality of data packets.
 7. The device of claim 1,wherein the communications medium to which said second modem isconfigured to be communicatively coupled includes a medium voltage powerline.
 8. The device of claim 1, wherein said computer readable medium isencoded with executable instructions to cause said processor toprioritize transmission of received data packets.
 9. The device of claim8, wherein said first modem is configured to communicate with a firstremote power line modem and a second remote power line modem via the lowvoltage power line subnet and said memory includes first rate limitinformation associated with the first remote power line modem storedtherein and second rate limit information associated with the secondremote power line modem stored therein.
 10. The device of claim 1,further comprising a memory communicatively coupled to said processorand wherein said first modem is configured to communicate with a firstremote power line modem and a second remote power line modem via the lowvoltage power line subnet and said memory includes first rate limitinformation associated with the first remote power line modem storedtherein and second rate limit information associated with the secondremote power line modem stored therein.
 11. The device of claim 1,wherein said rate limit is based, at least in part, on a rate limitrequest transmitted by a user.
 12. The device of claim 1, wherein saidrate limit is based, at least in part, on a subscription of a user. 13.The device of claim 1, wherein said rate limit is based, at least inpart, on the quantity of data packets transmitted by a remote power linemodem.
 14. A method of communicating data packets via an electricdistribution network that includes a low voltage power line and a mediumvoltage power line, comprising: receiving rate limit information;storing the rate limit limitation in a memory; receiving a firstplurality of data packets from the low voltage power line; determining afirst rate limit for the first plurality of data packets based, at leastin part, on the rate limit information; and transmitting at least someof the first plurality of data packets via the medium voltage power linein accordance with the first rate limit; determining quality of serviceinformation for a remote power line modem; and transmitting the qualityof service information to the remote power line modem via the lowvoltage power line.
 15. The method of claim 14, wherein the first ratelimit is based, at least in part, on the source of the first datapacket.
 16. The method of claim 14, wherein the first rate limit isbased, at least in part, on a destination address of the first pluralityof data packets.
 17. The method of claim 14, wherein the first ratelimit is based, at least in part, on the type of data in the firstplurality of data packets.
 18. The method of claim 14, wherein the firstrate limit is based, at least in part, on at least one of the time ofday and the day of week.
 19. The method of claim 14, wherein the firstrate limit is based, at least in part, on the size of the firstplurality of data packets.
 20. The method of claim 14, wherein the firstrate limit information is received via the medium voltage power line.21. The method of claim 14, further comprising: receiving a secondplurality of data packets; and prioritizing transmission of the firstplurality of data packets and the second plurality of data packets. 22.The method of claim 14, further comprising: receiving a second pluralityof data packets from the medium voltage power line; determining a secondrate limit for the second plurality of data packets; and transmittingthe second plurality of data packets via the low voltage power line inaccordance with the second rate limit.
 23. The method of claim 22,wherein the memory includes second rate limit information for saiddetermining the second rate limit.
 24. The method of claim 14, whereinthe first rate limit is based, at least in part, on a subscription of auser.
 25. The method of claim 14, wherein said rate limit is based, atleast in part, on the quantity of data packets transmitted by a remotepower line modem.
 26. The method of claim 14, wherein said rate limit isbased, at least in part, on a rate limit request transmitted by a user.27. A method of communicating data packets via an electric distributionnetwork that includes a low voltage power line and a medium voltagepower line, comprising: receiving rate limit information via the mediumvoltage power line; storing the rate limit limitation in a memory;receiving a first plurality of data packets from the low voltage powerline from a first remote power line modem; receiving a second pluralityof data packets from the low voltage power line from a second remotepower line modem; determining a first rate limit for the first pluralityof data packets based, at least in part, on the rate limit information;determining a second rate limit for the second plurality of data packetsbased, at least in part, on the rate limit information; transmitting atleast some the first plurality of data packets via the medium voltagepower line in accordance with the first rate limit; and transmitting atleast some the second plurality of data packets via the medium voltagepower line in accordance with the second rate limit; determining qualityof service information for a remote power line modem; and transmittingthe quality of service information to the remote power line modem viathe low voltage power line.
 28. The method of claim 26, furthercomprising prioritizing transmission of the at least some firstplurality of data packets and the at least some second plurality of datapackets and said transmitting at least some of the first and secondplurality of data packets is performed in accordance with saidprioritization.
 29. A method of communicating data packets via anelectric distribution network that includes a low voltage power line anda medium voltage power line, comprising: receiving rate limitinformation via the medium voltage power line; storing the rate limitlimitation in a memory receiving a first plurality of data packets fromthe medium voltage power line addressed for a first user device;receiving a second plurality of data packets from the medium voltagepower line addressed for a second user device; determining a first ratelimit for the first plurality of data packets based, at least in part,on the rate limit information; determining a second rate limit for thesecond plurality of data packets based, at least in part, on the ratelimit information; transmitting at least some of the first plurality ofdata packets via the low voltage power line in accordance with the firstrate limit; and transmitting at least some of the second plurality ofdata packets via the low voltage power line in accordance with thesecond rate limit; determining quality of service information for aremote power line modem; and transmitting the quality of serviceinformation to the remote power line modem via the low voltage powerline.
 30. The method of claim 29, further comprising prioritizingtransmission of the at least some first plurality of data packets andthe at least some second plurality of data packets and said transmittingat least some of the first and second plurality of data packets isperformed in accordance with said prioritization.
 31. A method ofcommunicating data packets via an electric distribution network thatincludes a low voltage power line, comprising: storing the rate limitlimitation in a memory; receiving a first plurality of data packets fromthe low voltage power line; determining a first rate limit for the firstplurality of data packets based, at least in part, on the rate limitinformation; transmitting at least some of the first plurality of datapackets via a communication medium in accordance with the first ratelimit; determining quality of service information for a remote powerline modem coupled to the low voltage power line; wherein the remotepower line modem is located at a customer premises; and transmitting thequality of service information to the remote power line modem via thelow voltage power line.
 32. The method of claim 31, further comprising:receiving a second plurality of data packets from the low voltage powerline; determining a second rate limit for the first plurality of datapackets; and transmitting the second plurality of data packets via thecommunication in accordance with the rate limit.
 33. The method of claim31, further comprising: receiving a first and second plurality of datapackets; and prioritizing transmission of the first plurality of datapackets and the second plurality of data packets over the communicationmedium.